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Anthony Smith believes that Luke Rockhold's game has regressed defensively, rendering him unable to beat the best fighters in the UFC.
Rockhold and Smith went back and forth in the media when the former middleweight champion was preparing to move up to 205 lbs. There was plenty of bad blood between the two.
During a recent episode of the Believe You Me podcast, 'Lionheart' revealed that his stance towards Rockhold hasn't softened. While analyzing his game, Smith opined that the 37-year-old is still extremely skillful but doesn't have the defensive chops to overcome the top-ranked fighters in the UFC. The number-four ranked light heavyweight said:
"He's not able to stay awake at work... He falls asleep on the job all the time. But it's just like he sucks now. And ok that's a lie. I don't want to put it out there like that. I think he's very skilled. He's super dangerous, he's got insane kicks, he's got good power, he's an insane wrestler, he's a fantastic guy on top. But defdefensively, he's not good enough to beat anybody worth a f**k."
Watch Anthony Smith's take on Rockhold:
Daniel Cormier is unsure why Luke Rockhold wants to take on Paulo Costa
After an impressive showing to win the middleweight title from the previously undefeated Chris Weidman at UFC 167, Luke Rockhold has lost three of his last four bouts. The former middleweight champion hasn't fought since his KO defeat against Jan Blachowicz in 2019.
Interestingly, Rockhold recently revealed that he wants to return to the octagon with a fight against Paulo Costa. During a recent episode of The DC & RC Show, Daniel Cormier stated that Rockhold is capable of beating 'Borrachinha', but the fight is fraught with danger for the former 185 lbs champion. The former Olympian said:
"I don't quite understand why he [Rockhold] wants that fight so bad. I don't know what Luke has seen in Paulo Costa over the course of the last few fights that makes him want that fight so much. Is it a winnable fight? Absolutely. But is there a lot of danger in that fight? Absolutely. We've seen Paulo Costa at his best. And even when we've seen him lose his last fight at 205, he still looked pretty good."
Check out Cormier's take on a potential Rockhold-Costa fight:
Although Luke Rockhold will go down as a legendary middleweight, he might struggle to defeat Paulo Costa in a potential fight since he's coming off a lengthy layoff.
